RONNIE MAUGE

Born: 10 March 1969

Came from: Bury   Went to: Bristol Rovers

First game: 12 August 1995   Last game: 01 May 1999

Appearances: 158 (141/17)   Goals: 18

Ronnie Mauge is immortalised in Argyle history for one defining moment - 'that' goal at Wembley Stadium, on 25th May 1996 to secure promotion for Neil Warnock's side. No-one could have predicted that 30 years on, and two further Wembley appearances later, he is still the only Argyle player to score at Wembley, a title both he, the club, and the supporters, would no doubt like to be relinquished!

He also suffered the fate of quite possibly being the most-mispronounced Argyle player of all-time, and was the bane of stadium announcers country-wide on away days. Pronounced 'Mor-jay', attempts often included Morgue, Magee, Morgey and Morgay to name but a few, but rarely was his name correctly pronounced!

Born in Islington, North London to 'Wind Rush' parents who emigrated to the UK from the Caribbean, he began his career as a trainee with Charlton Athletic but didn't make a first team appearance.

Joining Fulham after being released from The Valley, he signed his first professional contract at Craven Cottage in September 1988. In two years with the club he played 50 times and scored twice and also won a Young Player of the Season award. A bid of £40,000 from Bury then took him north and in five years for the then Football League side for whom he was frequently captain, he played 108 times, scoring 10 goals. His spell at Gigg Lane included a brief loan spell to Manchester City in 1991, where he made just one appearance, in a Full Members' Cup win against Sheffield Wednesday in October 1991.

Playing in a Bury side against a Neil Warnock-managed Huddersfield Town, he clearly impressed. When Warnock joined Argyle following relegation to the fourth tier for the first time in the club's history, he accepted the challenge of getting the club back up at the first attempt, and brought Mauge to Argyle for £40,000 in 1995.

Ronnie endeared himself to the Home Park terraces with his all-action displays, constant harrying of opponents, winning the ball and playing the simple pass. Described by Warnock as 'likeable rogue', often flashily dressed and with a gold hooped ear-ring and a couple of gold teeth to crown his beaming smile, he was a presence both on and off the pitch and never far from controversy either, and certainly no stranger to a card of either colour whilst playing! In 1996 he made headlines after he was arrested following charges of kidnap and possession of an imitation firearm. The charges were later fully dropped but it was enough to create a memorable chant of "He's got a gun, he's got a gun, Ronnie's got a gun", which followed him for some time afterwards. He also fronted a "Kick Racism out of Football" campaign.

In the 1998-99 season he was sent off twice in the space of four weeks and was one of the red-cards in the infamous "Battle of Saltergate" in which Argyle won 2-1 away at Chesterfield in the first Football League game to see five red cards issued. Three were Argyle players with Ronnie's being the first much earlier in the game, which in all fairness meant he wasn't even on the pitch when the injury time chaos started, and four more were brandished!

With his contract up and Argyle having already been relegated back to the fourth tier, Mauge's applauding of the fans after the club's last home game against Cambridge United in May 1999 suggested the writing was on the wall. That was his last game for club, and, presumably having made his intent known, he did not feature for the last two games of the season. Those were an away defeat at Scarborough and then the infamous 'Jimmy Glass game' at Carlisle United, when the keeper's injury time winner kept Carlisle in the Football League and relegated Argyle's preceding opponents, Scarborough.

After his four years at Home Park he did indeed leave, on a free transfer, joining Bristol Rovers and moving back up a league, in the summer of 1999. In 2000 he won his first cap for Trinidad & Tobago, qualifying through his parents' birthplace. He played for the 'Soca Warriors' between 2000 and 2001 in both the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup and in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. He won eight caps and scored once playing alongside Dwight Yorke and Shaka Hislop in a short, but eventful international career. He badly broke his leg in the 2020 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Mexico in San Diego, USA, forcing him to miss the rest of the season for Bristol Rovers. Jack Warner, then Vice-President of FIFA and before his subsequent downfall, personally covered Mauge's recovery costs. Later, Mauge returned for both club and country. His sole goal for Trinidad & Tobago came against Guatemala in a friendly match in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, in March 2001.

His injury derailed Rovers' promotion push and whilst he came back, its questionable whether his leg was ever quite the same again. In three years with Rovers, he had played 53 times without scoring. Released in 2002, he retired from professional football but did continue playing for St Albans City, Aldershot Town and Suffolk-based Whitton United, for whom he also had a spell as player-manager in the 2001-2002 season.

Once his playing career was fully over, he worked as a Football Development Officer for Ipswich Borough Council and was a frequent match-day guest of Argyle and in reunions of Warnock's promotion side.

In August 2022 it was announced that Mauge had become an official Club Ambassador, with a remit to represent the club's history and heritage and he continues to be a guest at the club regularly at home and away games throughout the country in that capacity.